Setup cost of microbrewery

Description: Read our microbrewery setup cost article to find out where your startup budget is spent, and to brew more delicious beer as quickly as possible.

When it comes to the cost of setting up a microbrewery, the question is like "How long is a rope?" There is no very accurate answer. This is because the setup cost of a microbrewery has many influencing factors.

Factors affecting the cost of setting up a microbrewery:

These are just some of the considerations for designing the setup cost of a microbrewery. If you want to fully explain this problem, it will become a thick book. However, we can make a simple discussion on the setup cost of a microbrewery to help you quickly enter the brewing industry.

_{How big is your brewery?}

The size of the brewery is very important for setup costs because the size of the equipment will seriously affect your costs. Micet Craft recommends choosing larger equipment as much as possible within the budget. This is because the price of 1,000 liters of brewery equipment is not twice the price of 500 liters of brewery equipment. For example, the price of complete 500-liter brewery equipment is 70,000 U.S. dollars, while the price of 1,000-liter brewery equipment may only be 85,000 U.S. dollars. You only need to pay for additional materials and slightly larger auxiliary equipment (such as chillers).

In addition, it takes the same amount of time to brew in a larger brewing system. Therefore, a larger brewing system will bring you more money. The number of beer manufacturers we talked to is very large, and they said that they would want them to become bigger within 6 months after the opening of the new brewery. Therefore, when planning your brewery, it takes a lot of time to determine the required brewing system size. If possible, you should estimate the expected growth of the brewery business to ensure that the brewing system may be used for at least 5 years.

_{Where is the location of the brewery?}

The location of your brewery will also be a decisive factor in your startup costs. What type of brewery do you plan to become? Craft brewery? Beer? Or a contract brewing brewery? For the content of brewery types, you can check "What is the difference between various types of breweries?".

Contract brewery: The brewer will use your equipment to brew beer and pay you money. This type of brewery will not have its characteristics. However, this method is also a better way to make full use of the remaining capacity of the brewery.

Taproom: The taproom is a very good idea. It can not only help the brewery profit through direct on-site sales points but also provide an interesting place for locals. Whether it is a production brewery with an attached taproom or a dedicated beer taproom, you can hang out, socialize and make new friends. The taproom will provide you with a large number of loyal customers, you can quickly promote new products, and quickly get valuable feedback and suggestions for the future.

In today's environment, it is difficult to see a brewery without a bar. Because it can help you get help financially, and it is also a place for you to have interesting communication with your customers. Therefore, finding a location on the edge of a busy area may be a good starting point. He will help you benefit from the huge passenger flow without paying large fees.

Where are you going to purchase your brewing equipment?

This is a very critical issue because it will seriously affect your budget. Under normal circumstances, it is very cheap to buy brewing equipment in China. Therefore, some people think that the quality of Chinese equipment is inferior, but in fact, it is not the case.

First of all, China's raw materials (stainless steel) are cheaper than other countries, which has a relatively large impact on prices. In addition, the labor cost in China is also low, so the price of the equipment will be very cheap.

I know that some people will say that China's products are of poor quality, poorly designed, and so on. But this can be avoided through good early communication, and we will discuss this part in depth later.

I said these are not to prevent you from buying equipment in other countries, but to provide a feasible direction for your brewery. In the case of a tight budget, you can consider trying to buy brewery equipment from China.

List of brewery equipment:

Brewhouse (for example mash mixer, lauter, and brew kettle/whirlpool)

Malt Mill

Heat Exchanger

Heating System

Fermentation Tank

Bright Beer Tanks (BBT’s)

Glycol System for Beer Cooling

Cold Water Tank (optional)

Hot Water Tank

Keg Cleaner

CIP Unit (optional for smaller breweries)

Movable pump

Yeast Brink (optional)

Beer Hose

Control panels

Cables and piping 

Packaging line (bottle or cans)

What container do you plan to put the beer in?

In terms of packaging, do you plan to pack beer into kegs, bottles, cans, or casks? If you plan to pack beer into kegs, then you may only need a manual filling system that is very cheap to assemble. Of course, you can also buy a semi-automatic keg filling machine.

If you plan to pack beer into cans or bottles, cheap equipment may not be the best. Because cheap equipment may cause DO numbers to rise. DO stands for dissolved oxygen, the higher the number, the worse the beer. Oxygen will oxidize beer and produce a papery taste. For more information, please refer to the article "Guide to beer off-flavors: papery (oxidized)".

For a smaller brewery, it will not be easy to find a packaging line that can provide dissolved oxygen in your budget. Please do research on the filling method of beer. If possible, you can ask what equipment other brewers are using for filling. Ask them what the DO level of their beer is. In a rational situation, the dissolved oxygen level in the can or bottle after packaging needs to be less than 50ppb, and less than 20ppb would be better.

Choosing a small filling production line is a very difficult thing. We asked about relevant content when choosing an automated filling production line for our customers, and their dissolved oxygen level exceeded 100ppb! This will seriously affect the shelf life of beer and shorten the shelf life of beer.

What type of brewery equipment do you want to buy? (Manual/automatic or between)

The higher the degree of automation in the brewery, the easier it will be to brew standardized beer. Automation can help you maintain beer consistency and have the ability to brew batch after batch of delicious craft beer. Delicious craft beer can help you quickly build the trust of your customers.

When ordering beer, brewers need to know exactly what products they get. If the difference between different batches is too great, the brewer is not willing to order your beer. Automation can help you minimize this occurrence.

When we are engaged in consulting work for brewery construction, I always recommend that they use automation for mashups and spend extra cash. In fact, using automated brewing only needs to press a button to enter how much water you need and the exact temperature, which will benefit your final product.

You can install an online flow meter between your lauter tun and your kettle, so you can know exactly how much wort you have collected. This is a good extra money use. The online flow meter can also tell you how many liters of wort are collected per minute, which is a huge help for filtration.

In addition, when the wort is collected from the whirlpool to the fermenting tank, the temperature of the wort can be set at the touch of a button, which is also a very cost-effective use.

In general, these are the 3 key areas where automation is most helpful. Of course, the initial investment cost of automated brewing will be higher. If your budget is tight, then look at the greatest benefits of automation and implement it where possible.

Advantages of the automation system:

Time-saving (up to only 20 minutes instead of 5-7 hours)

Full automation (does the steps automatically)

Less room for errors

Automatic documentation

Easy to tweak and perfect recipes

Avoid waiting times

Cleaning convenient

Requires less labor

Disadvantages of automated systems:

High upfront cost

Summarize:

Automated brewing has many advantages and makes brewing more convenient. Although the initial investment cost is very high, it can be quickly repaid through the later cost. If you have a small budget and plenty of time, manual brewing will be a very good choice. Otherwise, you must try automated brewing. Of course, for some breweries with a small budget and insufficient time, considering the use of semi-automated brewing will also be a very good choice. Whether to choose automatic brewing is mainly based on your budget and time.

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Is the brewing equipment from China reliable?

Description: Why is Chinese brewing equipment so cheap? This is caused by the production environment in China. Click to learn more about why Chinese brewing equipment is cheap.

We all know that breweries in many countries in the world purchase brewing equipment from China. The main factor is price. Chinese brewing equipment is 40% to 60% cheaper than similar equipment in the United States or Europe. But why is Chinese brewing equipment so cheap? Next, Micet Craft will explain this issue to everyone. Hope it can guide you on how to choose the right brewery equipment manufacturer for your brewery project.

Stainless steel is cheaper

When discussing why Chinese brewing equipment is so cheap, some people will say that China uses inferior stainless steel production equipment. But is this really the case? Let's take a practical look at it below.

Low labor cost

First of all, I would like to say that Chinese stainless steel is indeed cheaper than stainless steel produced in the United States or Europe. However, cheap does not always mean inferior. In many manufacturing processes, China can use economies of scale to reduce production costs. Let us look at an example. If a Canadian steel manufacturer pays workers 75,000 US dollars a year, there may be another 35,000 US dollars used to pay government taxes. In China, most steel production companies are state-owned enterprises. Although they also need to pay taxes to the government, they only need to pay workers $40,000 a year. Therefore, the true cost of labor in China is lower.

Indonesia's nickel issue

I know the above is a simple example, but another example involves Indonesia. Indonesia has the largest nickel reserves in the world, and nickel is vital to the manufacture of stainless steel. More than two-thirds of the world's nickel is used to make stainless steel. In addition, China Steel Corporation has established a new stainless steel manufacturing plant in Indonesia. Therefore, China is able to produce large amounts of stainless steel and occupy most of the stainless steel market.

If you ask me, is Chinese stainless steel cheap? I will answer you affirmatively, yes. Is stainless steel interior? This question is not difficult to answer, because China produces a variety of specifications and different qualities of stainless steel. Chinese steel manufacturers innovate production processes so that they can not only dominate the quantity market but also produce high-quality stainless steel.

China provides cheaper and better stainless steel 304 and 316 (stainless steel 304 and 316 are the best materials for manufacturing brewing equipment). Always keep the research on the equipment manufacturer you choose, and seek references from the breweries that have purchased the brewery equipment from them. It will give you full confidence in the supplier of choice. The following is a case of Micet Craft providing brewing equipment for overseas breweries, which you can check at any time. If you plan to visit their brewery, you can contact us and we will apply for an invitation letter for you.

Hard work culture

China's leaps and bounds in the past ten years can be attributed to the fact that the Chinese people have enough love for work. Every Chinese is willing to believe that hard-working people will get more rewards. They believe that hard work can solve complex problems, and society will promote their success. When the Chinese turn to other countries, they see this as an opportunity to prove themselves and their country. In addition, their continuous hard work makes their families proud of them. People are willing to work for more money.

China Business Ecosystem

In China, factory production does not happen in isolation. It relies on a supply network of suppliers, component manufacturers, distributors, government agencies, and customers. Everyone can participate in the production process through competition and cooperation.

Low labor cost

As we mentioned above, actual labor costs in China are relatively low. This is a problem that every developing country has. Compared with other developing countries, China's labor costs are higher. Moreover, in the rapid development of the last ten years, labor costs are also gradually rising, not as you have seen elsewhere.

Taxes and duties

There is an export tax rebate policy in China that allows manufacturers to sell more competitively priced equipment to the world market.

China becomes the world's factory

Although Chinese breweries have better equipment, this does not mean that the quality of the equipment is lower. China is often referred to as the "world factory". Over the years, China's manufacturing industry has gradually matured. Over time, manufacturing plants have improved their production processes, strengthened the training of workers, and improved the control of product quality.

Although compared with wages in Western countries, labor costs in China are lower. However, wages in China have also risen in recent years, and factories have also been developed. The factory has been able to adapt to more efficient operations, such as reorganizing the workshop and layout to make production more streamlined and more efficient.

Some comments on Chinese brewing equipment

The engineers of Micet Craft saw some comments on Chinese brewing equipment on some foreign forum blogs, and most of these comments are not good. We sort out the bad comments and explain the situation to everyone.

Chinese manufacturers’ electrical components are not allowed in the U.S. and Canada

Yes, this is true. There are UL certification requirements in the United States and CSA standards in Canada. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the electrical components used by default in China may not meet the requirements of these countries/regions. But a reputable Chinese equipment manufacturer will help you solve this problem. You need to tell them what standard electrical components you need before providing the equipment list. This will make it easier for you to receive the brewery equipment faster, and it is also convenient for the manufacturer to calculate the price for you (because the prices of electrical components of different standards are not the same).

Although an excellent equipment manufacturer knows the requirements of electrical components in your country, it may not be possible to assemble them for you due to price reasons. You can ask the local government to confirm whether the use of Chinese electrical components is allowed. In addition, you may also talk to your potential equipment suppliers to obtain their project cases and installation experience in your country. Micet Craft is helping breweries in different countries to purchase beer brewing equipment from China. We have a wealth of experience. If you need, please contact us.

Chinese manufacturer's equipment is poorly designed

We heard someone say "Chinese equipment manufacturers don’t understand brewing processes so the equipment supplied isn’t fit for brewing efficiently". In fact, this is not the case, it mainly depends on your requirements. When buying brewing equipment, you must be very clear about what you want. Among them, some key points that need to be paid attention to are:

Agree to the specification list

In the beginning, you need to check the equipment materials with the equipment manufacturer. For example, do you want a solenoid made in China or a solenoid made in the West? If you know your expectations from the beginning, the equipment manufacturer will be very happy, and you will not worry about subsequent production.

The type of brewhouse equipment you want

Do you need a hop filter to filter beer material? This way the hops will not clog the heat exchanger. Do you want to use a cold water tank or a secondary heat exchanger?

Keep it clean and concise in the process you need, and the brewhouse setup you want. This can help you save time and money, as well as reduce heartache caused by the equipment design. The equipment manufacturer will customize the design of the brewery equipment for you according to your brewing process and requirements, and the drawings will also be shared with you.

Excellent Chinese brewing equipment manufacturers hope that your brewery project will be as successful as you. All of this comes from good communication and specific needs in the early stage.

Tank specifications

For example, do you need carbonated fossils so that they can be matured in a fermenter? Do you want a racking arm on your unitanks or will a standpipe suffice? Do you need a bigger mash tun for high-gravity brewing? As above, be clear in your intentions for your brewery.

Brewery floor plan and utility exports

If you want an efficient brewing system, it makes sense to tailor the brewery equipment to your building layout. This is why, if possible, provide equipment manufacturers with as much building information as possible. It will bring better results and a more efficient brewery. In addition, utility outlets (water, electricity, and gas) are also where they need them. This way you can get a brewhouse and wine cellar that makes the most of your space.

Can I buy good Chinese brewing equipment?

I saw some people asking in some brewing forums: "Is the quality of China's equipment good?". I can tell you the answer to this question very accurately: not all is good. The quality of equipment produced by some equipment manufacturers in China is indeed poor, but the number of such manufacturers is decreasing.

Chinese brewing equipment manufacturers now understand the quality standards and typical requirements needed to compete in the world market. They have realized that if they want to compete in the world market, they need not only competitive prices but also high-quality equipment and good service and after-sales service.

The winemaking world looks big, but it's actually small and interconnected. People in the industry will talk to each other, and bad suppliers will soon be spread word of mouth. If you need high-quality brewing equipment, you can contact Micet Craft. We will customize your brewery equipment for you until you are satisfied.

How can I determine if the equipment made by the Chinese manufacturer is what I want?

When it comes to your brewing equipment, you need to check it, not only the final stage of the equipment but also the production process of the equipment. Before choosing your favorite manufacturer, you can visit several more manufacturers when you visit China. In this way, they can inspect their factories and see the quality of their work from the source.

Get reference

Before visiting the factory, you can contact the supplier for reference. It is best to visit overseas breweries that have purchased equipment from them and ask about their equipment usage. After that, you decide whether you need to go to the factory for on-site inspections and which factories to inspect.

Time to visit the factory

Please keep in mind that even if you decide to buy equipment after visiting the factory, it will be cheaper than buying from the United States or European and American countries. If you are sure you want to visit China, you can consider visiting the manufacturer at the following times:

First supplier visit

During manufacturing inspection

Final inspection before delivery

If possible, we recommend visiting during the manufacturing process to resolve any issues before it is too late.

What if the on-site inspection is not an option?

We know that under the current Covid-19 situation, it is impossible to visit China, so find a third party to check the equipment already in the local area, such as a wine consultant based in China. Of course, you can also:

Write "Quality Check Required Before Shipment" on your purchase order.

If you pay by letter of credit, you can specify that you wish to pass the inspection of the third-party quality control provider of your choice.

Make sure to track the intermediate inspection date and shipping date, not just the shipping date.

Through proper research or industry contacts, it is possible to obtain cheap, high-quality brewing equipment made in China. Many reputable brewing companies in the world are using brewing equipment made in China to brew beer and have won many honors. If you need it, please check the list of equipment that Micet Craft can provide. Of course, you can also contact us directly, and our engineers will provide you with the most complete turnkey brewery project solution.

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How to Choose a Brewery Location?

 

How to Choose a Brewery Location?

Choosing the right craft brewery location can make your new craft brewery on the road to success. Micet Craft will let you know how to choose a craft brewery location.

The craft beer industry is on an upward trajectory of explosive development. Around the world, a new craft brewery is opened every day on average. But, because of strict government regulations and high costs, it has become difficult to open a craft brewery. When opening a craft brewery, you will make many mistakes just like starting other new businesses. If you choose the wrong craft brewery location and space, it will be an irreparable mistake. But you can avoid choosing the wrong location and space by learning. This is the guarantee for your craft brewery on the road to profitability. When choosing the right facility, you need to consider the following five factors: local regulations, space requirements, aesthetics, public facilities, and facility design.

Learn and understand local regulations

When you consider where to open a craft brewery, the first thing you need to learn and understand is the laws of your state. Each state has its own set of laws and regulations, which are used to determine where craft breweries can and cannot be opened. State laws can help you quickly understand where breweries can be opened in towns, and most importantly, where in towns are prohibited. Although the laws of each state are different, most of these prohibited areas are close to schools and churches. You can obtain this information through the website of the local government, as this is usually publicly listed information.

Another important part of local regulations is the regulations that control signs, fences, and building heights. Although this content will be relatively long and strict, you must fully understand and study, especially the requirements of the California area. You also need to thoroughly understand fire codes and building codes, as this may affect your brewery design. Also, don’t forget to apply for a zoning permit, which can help you legally brew on the land of your choice.

When understanding and researching state laws and local regulations, it is very important that you go out and meet with local government officials in your area. There is an unfounded misunderstanding about the alcoholic beverage industry. Meeting with local government officials can let them know who you are and you will abide by their local laws and regulations here. This will pave the way for future government officials to adopt a more positive attitude towards brewery owners.

Estimate your utility costs

Brewery rent is usually a major consideration for ongoing facility costs, but utility costs will account for a large part of your brewery’s monthly expenses, so you need to carefully estimate utility costs. There are two main parts of utility costs: energy costs and water costs.

Energy cost

Operating a craft brewery means that during the brewing process (from mashing to fermentation to bottling), you use a lot of energy to keep the facility cool. If you are planning to buy a brewery run by someone else, you can get last year's usage report from the utility company and estimate the energy usage this year. If you open a new craft brewery, please get estimates and rates so that you can work with the brewer to estimate energy costs.

Water cost

Water is one of the most important components of craft beer (accounting for 80-90% of craft beer ingredients), so you need to use a lot of water. In addition to understanding usage reports and rates, you need to understand the quality of the water supply and the different types of water treatment methods that may be required. Most municipalities add chlorine or chloramines to domestic water, and you need to distill the water. If your craft brewery uses well water for brewing, it usually requires more treatment. When you start researching the water you will use, check the local government website. Most cities publish information on the quality of water and the different forms of treatment used.

Know your space requirements

When choosing the right brewery location, the biggest factor to consider is square footage. Generally speaking, the larger the building, the higher the price. So, we must carefully check how much space we need. Craft breweries produce less than 100,000 gallons of craft beer each year, but even small-batch brewing equipment requires a lot of space. The best way is to perform a break-even analysis. How much beer do you need to produce/sell to achieve a break-even?

Once the break-even analysis is completed, the capacity and production requirements can be processed. This is a good time to seek help from the brewery engineer. You can also consult the brewery equipment manufacturer and they will also help you. The engineer can help determine whether you need 500L brewery equipment or 1000L brewery equipment, as well as the number and capacity of fermentation tanks you need. When buying brewery equipment, you also need to remember another important thing: the height of the building. The height of the fermentation tank is usually between 5-9 feet, and the brewhouse equipment varies greatly due to the different heights of the design. If the building height of the brewery is limited, wider equipment will be needed to make up for it, which means more square feet.

Do you still need a tasting room? If you don't want to rely solely on the distribution as your source of income, you will also need enough space as a tasting room to display and sell your craft beer.

Design your brewery

When you start to narrow your search for suitable facilities, you need to judge whether the building is conducive to brewing beer. Now that you have a rough idea of ​​how many square feet you need, you can create a simple blueprint for the building and determine whether it is suitable for brewing beer. This is another good time to involve brewery engineers because CAD drawings are much more professional than drawing on napkins.

Let's take a look at the production workshop. We will use the process of brewing beer as a demonstration. The process of brewing beer is as follows:

Step 1-The malt is crushed in the crusher;

Step 2-The crushed malt enters the mashing bucket and becomes a paste;

Step 3-The mushy wort enters the filter tank for filtration;

Step 4-The wort enters the boiling pot for boiling;

Step 5-The boiled wort enters the cyclone for precipitation;

Step 6-The wort after spinning needs to be cooled;

Step 7-The cooled wort will enter the fermenter for fermentation;

Step 8-After the fermentation is completed, the beer needs to be conditioned;

Step 9-The beer after conditioning needs to be filtered, and the filling can be started after filtering;

You have understood the beer production process and capacity requirements, so you can try to put the brewery equipment on your blueprint. To save energy and space, your brewhouse equipment and fermentation tanks need to be close to each other. The design of brewhouse equipment is related to your brewery capacity and the size of the brewery space. The engineers of Micet Craft can customize and design the brewery for you free of charge according to the size of your brewery space.

Aesthetic design

The driving factor for the rapid growth of the craft beer industry is high-end. High-end means that consumers are willing to pay more for products that they consider unique. Successful craft breweries not only sell delicious beers, but they also sell stories. When you are ready to make your final choice, look for brewery equipment like your brand. Think about what words consumers will use to describe your beer, and then combine these words to find brewery equipment. If you can't find the equipment that matches your brand and spirit, then the engineers of Micet Craft can design a beautiful brewery according to your vision.

Through these 5 notes, you will find the perfect facility for your craft brewery. Remember, this will be a daunting task. You certainly don’t want any wrong moves (especially when it comes to your brewery facilities) to endanger your brewery’s success.

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FAQ to Know Before Designing a CIP System

Description: For those unfamiliar with the CIP system, it is basically a cleaning system, some common issues need to be known in advance before designing a CIP system.

For those unfamiliar with the word CIP, it's a cleaning system. Beverage manufacturers (such as breweries) will utilize it to automatically clean and/or sanitize certain process equipment (such as pipes and tanks) without the need for disassembly.

Many problems with these systems arise due to misinformation provided by "out of the box" CIP providers. These one-size-fits-all solutions rarely work as promised, disappointing results can strain resources, and failures in the cleaning process can lead to serious product quality issues. On the other hand, a tailored CIP solution may be daunting at first, but it offers great value in the long run.

Before designing a CIP system, please understand the following questions:

1. What product do I clean?

It is important to understand this because different applications require different levels of TACT. Different types of food and chemical soils present unique cleaning challenges.

T-time

A-action

C-Concentration

T-temperature

Light cleaning

Soil dissolves easily and does not cling tightly to the walls of tanks and pipes. Usually, most soils can be removed by a thorough pre-rinse, while the remaining soils are easily dissolved with an alkaline wash. In some cases, a single or two-tank system may be sufficient.

Moderate to heavy cleaning

Products require stronger detergent concentrations and higher temperatures. Multiple high-temperature caustic and acid washes may be required.

2. Do you work with chemical suppliers and determine chemicals, exposure times, and temperatures?

A good chemical supplier can analyze the water, soil the plant has and choose a chemical that will provide the fastest and most efficient reaction to break it down. Often, they can recommend the time required to complete the reaction (contact time) and the optimal temperature to help the soil break down.

3. Are your tanks designed for CIP cleaning?

Tanks made by older processes are often not designed for the spray balls used for cleaning them. For some of these systems, ports can be added to the tank and it works efficiently. But with most tanks, when adding spray balls to old tanks that are not designed to be cleaned in place, there is often a problem with solution leaks.

4. Does your production line have the proper slope to ensure adequate drainage?

When cleaning, water left in between cleaning steps can cause residues that reduce cleaning effectiveness. And standing water in the system can be a place for bacteria to start growing during downtime.

5. What functions can the CIP system perform?

A properly equipped CIP system can be used to perform a variety of different tasks, including cleaning tanks, lines, and equipment. Customers looking to integrate a CIP system into a brewery may require it to perform only one of these tasks or to perform several tasks simultaneously.

6. Are jars usually hot cleaned or cold cleaned?

Jars are usually cleaned at ambient temperature, but higher temperatures may be required in some cases. In these cases, maintaining a constant temperature during the cleaning cycle and regulating the temperature throughout the cooling process becomes critical and requires additional programming to protect the brewing equipment. Micet Craft is very familiar with these applications and can help optimize the right solution.

7. Is there a standardized CIP system commodity?

When a manufacturer or distributor tells you that a CIP system will perform as expected when it arrives, it's easy to believe the hype. While this may be true in the most basic sense, there are many other aspects to consider.

Although the components in a CIP system may look like commodities, the design of the system, integration with brewery equipment, and customization to customer requirements make the CIP system a bespoke solution. Almost 100% of CIP systems become custom projects that require extensive installation and configuration experience.

8. What utilities are required to run a CIP system?

In general, a fully functional CIP system requires a water source, a chemical source, steam, condensate return (for heating), and drains (both gravity and power drains). Every factor here is determining the size and the total number of tanks required and the piping required.

9. Can your CIP system guarantee 360° cleaning without dead angle?

When cleaning, the cleaning solution must be able to completely flush all pipes and equipment. If brewery equipment cannot be rinsed clean, some cleaning solution may remain in the equipment and affect subsequent brewing operations.

Knowing these 9 common problems, you can determine whether your brewing system needs only a few simple adjustments to get it clean in place, or if it requires major adjustments to be able to implement the CIP process. Of course, you can also learn more and save a lot of time and money by reading other articles on CIP systems.

Learn more:Micet carft

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Benefits of boiling wort

Benefits of boiling wort

f the brewing process. Many new whole-grain beer brewers read about the effects of different temperatures, mash thickness, and other aspects of boiling to understand what happens during the boiling process and how to deal with it.

Boiling is one of the standard steps of the brewing day, so much so that the time interval for adding hops and the boiling temperature is indicated in many brewing recipes. It may take 90 to 120 minutes to boil for Grist that uses a lot of Pilsner malt. Boiling is an important stage that every beer must go through from grain to beer. This is why it deserves your attention.

What is wort?

First, let us first understand what wort is. Wort is a brewing term that essentially refers to unfermented beer. For brewers, it is very important to understand what wort is and how it affects the beer brewing process.

Many complicated reactions occur before the beer is fermented. This is also the process by which wort turns into beer. Everything about beer starts with making wort, which gives the beer a basic flavor, including the types of grains and hops required by the brewer’s recipe.

Wort is a sweet liquid and contains a lot of starch. Boiling is adding hot water to the wort, allowing enzymes to degrade starch into monosaccharides that can be fermented. This is also an important function of the boiling process. Let's take a look at the benefits of boiling wort.

Sterilize wort

When selecting malt and preparing wort, some microorganisms will enter the wort. When you mash and lauter, the temperature usually doesn’t get above 78°C (for mash out). This temperature isn’t high enough to “inactivate” some of the microbes in the grains, hops, and adjuncts used in brewing.

We need to ensure as much as possible that yeast is the only thing that grows in beer. Boiling wort can kill any microorganisms that may be present in the wort or other ingredients. In the first 15 minutes of boiling, most of the bacteria in the wort will lose activity. In addition, when you add hops to the wort, the pH in the wort will drop, which also helps the sterilization process.

Stop enzyme activity

The action of most enzymes stops very early in the wort collection process, and we need to ensure that the ingredients in the wort are fixed before the fermentation process. And boiling can inactivate the enzymes in the wort and fix the carbohydrates in the wort, so as to achieve a fixed dextrin content in the final beer. Dextrins are complex carbohydrates. If there is no enzyme to break them down into simpler sugars, yeast cannot ferment them. In addition, brewers can control the ratio of fermentable and non-fermentable sugars, taste, and other factors by controlling the wort.

Hop's alpha acid isomerization (extract bitterness)

The substance responsible for increasing bitterness in hops is called alpha acid. But normal alpha acid will not bring a bitter taste to the beer. Only alpha acid undergoes isomerization (change in chemical structure) to bring a bitter taste to the beer. Therefore, if the alpha acid, which is so precious in hops, is not boiled well, it is almost useless. Boiling will help the isomerization of alpha acids, making it easier for iso-alpha acids to dissolve in the wort.

Evaporate

Raw materials such as barley contain volatiles and need to be boiled to remove them. If you don't boil it, your final beer may have a peculiar smell. One of the main sources of peculiar smell is DMS (dimethyl sulfide).

Dimethyl sulfide-If you have ever smelled the aroma of corn in beer, then you have encountered DMS. In light beer and lager, ordinary drinkers can detect it at very low levels. In addition, the precursor of DMS is SMM (S-methyl methionine), which is produced during the sprouting process of barley. When you heat the wort, SMM decomposes into DMS. However, in the case of violent boiling, DMS will evaporate and take most of it away. If you are interested in how to deal with DMS, you can read our "Guide to Beer Odor—DMS" article.

Boiling also removes the volatiles contained in unwanted malt and hops, which can also have a negative impact on the final beer. In addition, adding hops at a later stage (close to the end of boiling or after stopping) will retain the aromatic hydrocarbon components in the hops in the wort and improve the aroma of hops in the finished beer.

After you filter the wort and send it to the brewing pot, you need to add more water to ensure that as much sugar as possible can be extracted from the wort. But please be careful not to over-boiling and keep the final operation above 2.5 Plato (1.010 SG) to ensure safety. Otherwise, you may extract tannins and cause unpleasant bitterness in the beer.

Wort concentrate

Under normal circumstances, the wort collected after mashing will not have the original gravity expected by the winemaker. Therefore, by boiling the wort and knowing the boiling rate, the brewer can perform accurate raw gravity for his beer. In large breweries, as much as 10% of the contents of the kettle may be lost due to evaporation during the normal duration of boiling, which in turn increases the original specific gravity of the wort. This is important when brewing high-strength beers (such as barley) that are made only from grains. In order to achieve high virgin gravity, the wort is boiled for a long time—usually as long as three hours.

Please note that if you need to concentrate wort, you can do this by boiling the water in the brewing pot. The typical evaporation rate is 5% to 10% per hour, and most brewers have an evaporation rate of about 8% per hour.

Coagulate protein

There are many substances in malt, especially proteins, which are suspended in the wort. If you want to produce beer that feels, stable and consistent, it is crucial that the protein solidifies and precipitates during the boiling process. The boiling process helps these proteins to condense into larger pieces during the hot rest and settle to the bottom during the cold rest. If you see "big fluffy bits" in the wort at the beginning of boiling, then you are doing the right thing.

Why does this happen? This is because, during the boiling process, proteins are denatured by heating, pH changes, oxidation/reduction (sulfhydryl groups), and hydrogen bonds with polyphenols. The protein changes from hydrophilic (attracted and dissolved by water) to hydrophobic (not attracted) and has a positive charge. Then they combine with negatively charged polyphenols and supplemented with some carbohydrates to form "big fluffy bits". Next, the protein will fall off the wort and form part of the residue, which will not be carried to the subsequent fermenter.

Maillard reactions and color picking

The color of the wort in the kettle is a combination of many factors. The sugar in the wort caramelizes when it is boiled and darkens the wort when it is boiled. The chemical process that causes these changes is called the Maillard reaction.

Maillard reactions are non-enzymatic browning that adds color and flavor to the beer during boiling. It is a chemical reaction between the carbonyl group of an active sugar and the amino group of amino acids. There is a lot of science to explain this reaction. However, it is important to know that the final product of the Maillard reaction is melanoidin (brown nitrogen-containing polymers). When you boil the wort, it produces a deeper color.

Decrease in pH

When the wort is boiled, the pH will decrease. This is mainly due to the precipitation of calcium phosphate. The calcium ions in the brewing water react with the phosphates in the malt to form calcium phosphate and hydrogen ions, thereby lowering the pH of the wort. For most beer styles, you want the pH after boiling to be between 5.0 and 5.2. This is because:

Improved the characters extracted from the jump addition

Improve thermal rest

Reduce overall color pick-up

In addition, hop isomerization is also affected by pH. The higher the pH value, the better the conversion rate to iso-α acid. If the pH of the wort is between 8 and 10, you can achieve a conversion rate of up to 90%. However, the pH value of wort is usually between 5.2 and 5.4, so the conversion rate is low, usually, the upper limit is about 35%. Even if the conversion rate is low, it is better to have a lower pH due to the above reasons, and at a higher pH level, the characteristics and bitterness will be "coarser".

In addition, thermal fracture formation is better at lower pH values, and 5.2 is the best value. If you see "big fluffy bits" in the wort, you will know if you are in range when the boiling starts.

Additives in boiling

When you boil the wort in the brewing pot, you can also add other ingredients. When the wort gets hot and boils, it is easier to add, mix, dissolve and sterilize these ingredients. In addition, you can add more kettle additives when boiling, which is very helpful for brewers.

What can you add when boiling? This list is very long, and we cannot list them all here. However, we need to talk about the first Irish moss.

Irish Moss

Irish moss is made from a blend of processed seaweed. When added to the boil, it helps your finished beer become "light". The three main sources of beer turbidity are:

Tannin

Excess protein

yeast

Now for Irish moss, we will focus on tannins and excess protein related to mashing and boiling. Tannins are naturally present in the barley husks released during the saccharification/filtration process. Protein is also found in cereals, especially wheat, oats, and barley flakes. Adding Irish moss in the last 15 minutes of boiling will help remove these. In short, it accelerates the coagulation of protein at the end of boiling and prevents cold mist.

Defoamer

Some brewers like to add defoamers when boiling to prevent boiling, thereby making the brewing safer. Adding these specially designed products will not affect the head retention or beer foam in the final product.

Yeast Nutrients

There are many different versions of yeast nutrition, some are added when boiling, and some are added after boiling is stopped. They can be used to help ferment high-strength beer or to help other products (such as hard soda) ferment.

A tip from an old brewer: If the yeast is used up, please use some yeast in the fermentation vessel and add it towards the end of the boil. It will help to add nutrients to the yeast that will be placed in the fermenter later.

Other clarifying agents

There are other products that help improve colloidal stability when added to the boil. These substances are particularly useful in heavy hop beer. There are even PVPP products that you can add to combat the cold haze.

Lactose and other sugars

Lactose is a processed sugar derived from milk. Ordinary brewer's yeast cannot be fermented, but other yeasts such as Brettanomyces clause ii can ferment. It is used by beer manufacturers in sweet stouts and other beers to contain more residual sugar in the final beer.

Other sugars you can add to the boil include corn syrup. Some brewers use it to increase the original specific gravity and overall %ABV (alcohol content) of the final product. This is especially convenient if you have limited space in your mash and/or filter barrel and need a lot of abv beer. Adding sugar when boiling makes it easier to mix with the wort.

Other spices and fragrances

There are many other ingredients that can be added to the boiling as a winemaker. Usually, they are added at the end of boiling or after the flame is turned off. Here are just a few:

Orange peel — used in some Belgian smart beers

Heather and ferns — used to brew in Scotland before the discovery of hops, some newer breweries are returning to use these ingredients.

Coffee — Most brewers will add coffee later, but I heard that some brewers use coffee when boiling.

Tea — You can add a lot of tea while boiling. However, be careful with tannins. If you are not careful, your beer may get an unpleasant astringency from the tea!

Spices — Another ingredient commonly used in Belgian wisdom is coriander seeds. They exude a spicy taste that complements the orange peel. Many different flavors can be used, such as cloves, which are commonly used in "Christmas" beer.

To be honest, you can add a lot of flavor and aroma when boiling. Just perform due diligence to ensure that anything you add is safe to eat.

Conclusion

So, you know, "Why do we cook wort" has many levels? I hope this article is informative and will give you a deeper understanding of what happens during the boiling process. As you can see, many important reactions and physical changes are taking place. From making beer more "storable" and concentrating wort to adding hops to increase bitterness and aroma.

The best way to improve beer over time is to record as much data as possible before, during, and after boiling. These can include:

Pre-boil pH & gravity

Post boil pH & gravity

The hot break can be measured in a graduated glass cylinder, even keeping a photograph on file

Evaporation rate – volume before and after the boil

If you’ve control of the steam then the percentage open of the steam valve during boil can be recorded as well

Keeping these files and recording all the information that happened during the brewing process can help you better analyze the brewing process and improve the brewing recipe. Of course, it can also help you understand where problems occur in the brewing process so that you can more easily solve and correct any problems.

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